Christina Birch swaps cycling for outer space

US' Christina Birch and Kimberly Geist celebrate after winning the Women's Madison cycling finals at the Panamerican Games 2019 in Lima Peru, on August 4, 2019 (Photo by Luis ACOSTA / AFP) (Photo credit should read LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images)
Birch celebrates Madison victory at the 2019 Pan-Am Games (Image credit: Getty Images)

Christina Birch, a former US national champion on the track, has left professional cycling behind and is on her way into space, landing a coveted role as an astronaut with NASA. 

The 35-year-old won the national individual pursuit title in 2016 and 2017, and represented the USA at World Championships and the Pan-American Games, where she has won two gold medals. 

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Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.